“It’s only the beginning” for women’s sports, new Angel City FC owner Willow Bay says

Women’s sports are not for the future; it is the now.

Annenberg Dean Willow Bay says the historic boost she gave to women’s sports this week by purchasing Angel City FC and making it the most valuable women’s sports team on earth is “only the beginning.”

She sees excitement for the team and women’s sports as “contagious” and shared her views about this new endeavor, which ties into her work leading one of the nation’s leading journalism schools.

“We believe this is a historic moment in sports. It’s also a historic moment for women’s sports,” Bay said in an interview on Wednesday.

“It’s breathtaking what we’re seeing happen right now, and we believe it’s only the beginning of the ascent for Angel City, for women’s soccer, and for women’s sports.”

On Tuesday, Bay officially announced the purchase of Angel City FC’s controlling stake with the partnership of her husband and Disney CEO Bob Iger. Unanimously approved by Angel City FC’s board of directors, the shift in ownership made the club worth a record-breaking $250 million.

On top of the purchase, Bay and Iger are funding another $50 million for the club. Yet, with only a few days on the job, they have not made any decisions on using the additional funds.

“We know there are lots of investment opportunities, and we want to work closely with management to prioritize those before we make any decisions about capital allocation,” Bay said. “We wanted to make sure that the balance sheet was well capitalized, which is why we have that extra investment in primary capital”

Angel City FC was founded in 2020 by a majority female ownership group that included actress Natalie Portman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman, senior Julie Uhrman, and venture capitalist Alexis Ohanian. The 2021 National Women’s Soccer League season became the inaugural season for Angel City, which played at BMO Stadium as its home arena.

In the three years since becoming a club, Angel City FC has had mixed results, with the club’s first playoff appearance last season. Headcoached by United Kingdom native Becki Tweed, the club is still in a rebuilding phase in 2024, finding itself at the bottom of the table this season.

Yet, the club’s inconsistent success thus far has not affected its ability to fill the stands. In Baby’s eye, Angel City FC has been able to nurture an open and caring community that connects fans with players.

“We know sports don’t just reflect culture; they help shape it, and we believe that this team in this city, with this community and fan base, is helping to shape culture by advancing excellence and driving equity for athletes,” Bay said.

The fans’ passion is present at every game, with the Rebellion99 leading group chants with drums and horns that ring around the stadium. In the club’s inception, it was the ownership’s mission to fill BMO stadium consistently. And three years later, the club has been atop the NWSL in average game attendance, ranking first in 2024 with an average of 19,499 fans per game.

“[Fans] come into the stadium and feel a real sense of community, a real sense of belonging,” Bay said.

The historic purchase by Bay and Iger emphasizes the growing interest in women’s sports over the past few years. In a year of WNBA rookie phenoms Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, women’s sports’ visibility has never been more critical. According to Nielsen, this year’s Women’s College Basketball National Championship of Iowa versus South Carolina totaled 18.9 million viewers, peaking at 24.1 million in the final minutes.

In a potentially record-breaking year for women’s sports, Deloitte projects that elite women’s sports will surpass $1 billion in revenue, with an annual forecast revenue of $1.28 billion in 2024. The possible revenue growth in women’s sports would be a 300% increase from Deloitte’s projections back in 2021.

“I don’t think it’s just a one-year phenomenon. I think we’ve been seeing the interest in women’s sports grow over a period of time,” Bay said. “There’s an excitement about being part of the community that comes out to support women’s sports.”

Visibility into women’s sports is only starting, as the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and the WNBA have inked record-breaking broadcast deals with multiple networks in the past year.

“I think fans are in awe of the excellence, the athleticism, the competitive drive, and the savvy that they see on the court, on the field, on the pitch, or, now even on the rink. ” Bay said.

In November 2023, the NWSL announced a four-year deal worth $240 million, $60 million per year, in media rights with CBS, ESPN, Prime Video, and Scripps Sports starting this year. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the WNBA, in partnership with the NBA and their new multi-year TV deal, tripled the value of its media rights to $200 million per year over the next 11 seasons, beginning in 2025.

“We think there are no limits to the growth of this team and certainly to the growth of this sport.”

Bay walks into the new endeavor with no prior ownership experience, but she plans to leverage her other careers to help guide the process. In her career, Bay has created a well-rounded portfolio spanning the world of journalism. She has been a lead anchor for NBC, ABC, and CNN, most notably hosting NBA Inside Stuff with former NBA player Ahmad Rashad from 1991 to 1998.

“The draw of sports is the human stories, and I think that’s been the through line of certainly my interest as a fan, but also my professional interests and expertise,” Bay said.

Upon her promotion to Dean of USC Annenberg, Bay was a senior editor and strategic advisor for the Huffington Post. In 2017, Bay became the USC Annenberg dean, promoting her from her role as school director from 2014 to 2017.

“I know that I can use that expertise to help support the growth of this team,” Bay said. “Being control owner of this team, and being able to leverage expertise and passion to help support its growth is very much in alignment with my role as the dean of Annenberg School, where I leverage the expertise and wisdom of our faculty and staff to support students to support scholarship and to support our engagement with our industries of practice.”

While Bay’s mindset is adjusting to a new occupation, inspiring future generations of women’s soccer players and athletes is also a focus.

“The women’s game here in the US is best in class,” Bay said. “It certainly means something to young girls and women who know they have an opportunity to play for a best-in-class league at a best-in-class team.”